The James thing is really weird to come up right now. Rooney leaving will only leave a vacant 10 number behind, not a vacant position. So there's no urgency in having someone come in to replace him. That player should be Lukaku. James isn't a winger or a CM, he'd be another Mata/Mkhi, so why would Mourinho be desperate for him to come in when United have been slow to take up Morata/Perisic/Fabinho who would fulfill positions in the squad and James would cost about as much as Morata?

And lastly why would the James issue come up right after the Morata drama? RM need to sell Morata to give room to Mbappe but refused to back down on their asking price and United ditched them at the last second. Why would RM lower their price for United now and why would United insultingly consider they would?

It's just a weird thing to suddenly come up. See if any of the other more credible sources report anything about it. I remember Delaney claiming Bernardo Silva was top of Mourinho's list above Mbappe and he's also been one of the key people pushing Fabinho, both which seem like they were smoke screens for Mendes to sell them to other teams.